Routes to a New Pilgrimage

The Gough Map, ca 1360, is a late medieval map of Great Britain. Image: Wikimedia

For all my bluster and talk of not planning for a long hike, I love to read about other hiker’s experiences on the trail, as is probably obvious in 5 Books by Women Who Walk. I even joined the newly formed Puget Sound Camino Book Club. Let me know if you’re interested in reading about Camino journeys, and I’ll send you the details. Monthly meetings begin Jan 27 at 7 PM (PST).

One of the Facebook groups that I’ve lurked on to research the Shrewsbury to Canterbury leg of my planned pilgrimage is The Old Way: Southampton to Canterbury, an Ancient British Camino. A photo posted recently of a 1000-year-old Wyndham Oak in Dorset is reason alone to check out the group.

Moderator and admin Will Walking contributes his walking wisdom regularly, and I asked him if I could repost some of his thoughts in a Friday guest post. Brexit rules and COVID restrictions have changed Britain’s relationship to traditional pilgrim routes, but Will sees no reason to despair. His wisdom could as easily apply to those of us in the United States living with similar constraints and restrictions.

Spain’s recent announcement that Spanish Camino routes are closed to tourists until at least September this year might slow us down, but that’s no reason to stop visualizing our next pilgrimage. If you know someone who is considering a Camino hike, why not suggest they begin by downloading my mini-guide to planning a long walk: Quick Prep to a Slow Walk (on the Camino de Santiago)?